Her lashes had lowered, and he couldn’t see her gaze. That wasn’t the way he wanted it. He needed to see her. All of her.
“Look at me.”
Her lashes flew up.
Was that pain in her eyes? Cassie couldn’t know pain. Only pleasure.
His hand eased between their bodies, found her clit, and stroked her. He choked back his own need as he brought her to a feverish pitch once more. He’d take no pleasure until she found her release.
Her h*ps started to arch against him, and her nails dug into his back.
Yes, yes, this was what he wanted. What he needed.
Cassie cl**axed beneath him, and he felt the strong contractions of her inner muscles along the length of his cock. Her gasp filled his ears—the sexiest thing he’d ever heard, sighing with pleasure—and he thrust harder, faster into her.
The headboard kept thudding against the wall.
The pleasure hit him, crashing over him, into him, and her name roared from his lips as the cl**ax seemed to rip him apart.
His hands fisted on the covers. His h*ps pistoned against her, and the pleasure consumed him.
His breath heaved from his lungs and his mouth took hers. He kissed her, tasting the pleasure on her lips, and Dante knew that nothing had ever been this good.
No other lovers. Only her.
The woman had just ruined him for anyone else. But he’d known that truth about her for a very long time.
Right from the moment he’d realized she had the potential to be a phoenix’s mate. One of the few who could handle the fire and fury that was within him.
His lips gentled on hers even as he still thrust lightly into her. He didn’t want to leave her body. After so many years of wanting, he was finally where he needed to be.
He licked her lower lip, then slowly raised his head. Her cheeks were flushed. Her eyes sparkling. And she smiled at him.
Lethal.
His breath stilled in his chest.
“That was”—her smile widened—“worth waiting for.”
He shook his head.
Her smile instantly dimmed.
“No,” he told her, his voice a growl because that was all he could manage, “that was just the beginning.”
His thrusts became stronger. Harder.
Her eyes widened.
Her smile returned.
So did the pleasure. So much pleasure. Enough to make a man lose his mind.
His fingers twined with hers. Her legs lifted and curled around his hips. When he thrust, she arched into him. Her sex was slick and—judging by those sweet moans—sensitive from her release.
It didn’t take long until she was coming for him again. Her sex contracted, squeezing him. Slick and eager. He pumped into her, driving as deep as he could possibly go.
The second orgasm left him feeling hollowed out, sated, and more at peace than he’d ever felt.
He knew it wasn’t the orgasm that had truly done that for him. It was her.
In the aftermath, he pulled her closer against him. Pressed a kiss to her cheek.
And slept for the first time in centuries with a woman in his arms. He’d never been able to hold another while he slept. He’d feared that his nightmares would bring fire—and that he’d wake to see death and hell.
But the fire wouldn’t come with Cassie. It couldn’t.
She brought peace.
The faint light of dawn pressed onto Cassie, and she blinked, slowly opening her eyes. Something was on top of her—something warm and strong and heavy.
Dante.
He was sprawled half on top of her, with his arm wrapped around her stomach. His eyes were closed. His face relaxed.
He’d always looked so fierce. So dangerous. Now, he just looked . . . handsome.
Her hand lifted. Her fingers were trembling. After last night, how could she still feel nervous around him? But her fingers shook as she brushed back a lock of hair that had fallen over his forehead.
At her touch, his eyes immediately opened. There was no grogginess in his gaze. Too alert, far too aware, that gaze locked on her.
Since it was her first official morning after, Cassie wasn’t 100 percent sure what she was supposed to say. Actually, she wasn’t even 10 percent sure, so she offered him a smile.
Dante didn’t smile. But then, he never did.
One day, he will.
“There’s no going back,” he said.
No, they’d crossed a line last night.
“We’ll leave this town,” he continued and his fingers stroked over her shoulder. “Head north. I had a place in Canada once that I think—”
Wait. She stiffened beneath him. “I still have to get to Mississippi. I have people there who are counting on me.” He knew that.
A furrow appeared between his brows. He sat up, pulling the covers with him.
She was naked. That fact hadn’t embarrassed her at all last night. But it wasn’t last night, and right then, her face flamed as she yanked the sheets away from him.
Dante frowned at her. “Those people . . . want to use you. If you go back, Genesis—what’s left of it—will keep hunting you.”
Yes, he was right. They would.
“I can’t leave the people in Belle. They need me.” She was the only one who could help them. “The other phoenixes are going to meet me there and—”
Dante’s hands locked around her wrists. “Other phoenixes?”
“I-I thought that your memory was back.” Surely he remembered the female phoenix in New Orleans. He’d gone to New Orleans to find that woman because—Oh, crap. Because phoenixes have a history of killing each other.
Since phoenixes could come back from nearly any death, they didn’t have many natural enemies.
Just their own kind.
In order for a phoenix to truly die, he had to be killed during the moment of his regeneration, the moment when the flames burned at their brightest—a moment when only another phoenix could get through the fire. Those fireproof suits that Jon’s men had worn certainly hadn’t been strong enough to get the job done.
“Sabine doesn’t want to hurt you,” Cassie said, referring to the only female phoenix she’d ever met. Cassie clutched the sheet closer to her body. “Don’t you remember? She just wanted—”
“I remember Sabine.” Flat. Cold. “Her vampire tried to transform her.”
Cassie nodded. Sabine’s lover, a vampire, had tried to turn the phoenix, but the results hadn’t been quite what Ryder had anticipated.
“Sabine never wanted to hurt you.” Cassie tried to make her voice sound soothing. “You don’t have to worry about a threat from her.”